Of Heroes, Antiheroes, and Civilians
by classic99lady00
Summary: This story is about Marie Kapetter, a young woman living in New York, leading an exceptionally boring life... that is until she has the misfortune of becoming the obsession of a certain crazy character and must enter S.H.I.E.L.D.'s protection program. (Chapters aren't in order.)
1. Stating the Obvious

Marie anxiously watched the clock, tapping the end of her pen against the countertop in synchronization with its ticking. The sun was going down outside, the streetlights coming on. This was the time of day he usually came in, when everyone else preferred to be indoors due to the lingering heat and blinding shadows. She hoped this would be one of the rare Fridays that he was too busy to send his usual 10 lbs packages, but she wasn't too optimistic. He hadn't missed "Mail Day," as he called it, in over a month.

Willy, her tattooed, twig of a boss, came up behind Marie, saying, "I'm taking off. You ok to close up?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marie said with a soft smile, the way she did everyday. And she didn't really mind closing up. She didn't have anywhere to go anyway; no reason for Willy to be away from his kids when his ex-wife dropped them off for the weekend.

Willy dropped the keys onto the counter beside her elbow and walked out from behind the counter, striding out the door without a backward glance. Marie didn't expect anything else; they weren't friends, despite the fact that they'd worked together everyday for the past six months.

Willy had been gone all of two minutes when he showed up, the way he always did, out of the blue, never coming from the same place. He was a broad-shouldered, average-height figure in a lowered baseball cap and large hooded jacket, his pants always baggy and his boots an eccentric bright, blood-red, the same color as his gloves. Today, he seemed to have bought a new pair of cargo pants with lots of pockets, which were already weighed down with heavy objects hidden from sight, and his jacket was sticking to his arms and back in places, blotched with a dark liquid that looked a lot like blood. Marie knew she'd never be brave enough to ask. In fact, as he opened the door and made his way across the floor to the counter, she could feel her knees quivering.

"Mail-day-mail-day... Ma-ail Da-ay!" he sang childishly, dropping his package heavily onto the counter with flare. Whatever was inside rolled slightly after it hit, rocking the hamburger-wrapper-and-ducttape covered box.

Marie shook off her discomfort and stood up straight, "How are you today, sir?" He'd never told her his name, and she wouldn't ask.

"Oh, I'm the same as always. Good. Fine. Wonderful. Whatever. That's what you always hear. Why does anyone ask anymore?" He leapt onto the counter without any help from his arms and sat swinging his legs, his back to her.

"It's just polite I guess." Marie didn't dare look up as she took the package back off of the scale. She couldn't ever see his eyes in the shadow under his hood and that made her nervous. She knew that it would make her even more nervous if she could see them.

"Yeah, and you're nothing if not polite." He suddenly spun around without getting off the counter and folded his arms under his chin, making Marie flinch at his quickness. "Polo-lo-polite as dyna-na-dynamite!" He bobbed his head back and forth as he put the words to a random tune. "Hey! That's what I'll call you! Dynamite!"

Marie swallowed wordlessly, grabbing a pen and paper from under the counter. "Where would you like this sent, sir?"

He leapt off the counter in one, feline leap and reached into one of his many pockets, bringing out a crumpled, dirty letter envelope. He thrust it at her.

Marie gingerly took the paper from him. The letter had been addressed to D.P., plain and simple, and the return address was circled in what looked like ketchup. He always asked her to address the packages, saying that no one could ever read his lettering unless it was huge. It was never to the same place, most times to an initial and a phone number for the post office to call when it arrived. Marie didn't ask how it worked, but it did.

"Hey, Dynamite!" he suddenly said, making Marie jump and make a long, unwanted mark across the box. "I can't help but notice that you've got a cute face and a rockin' body."

Marie was shocked into looking up at his shadowed face but then she quickly ducked her head again, wide-eyed, as she put his ill-wrapped package on one of the shelves behind her.

He was ranting now. "Why do you work _here_ every night? When do you find a guy to take care of you're lady needs, huh? Don't tell me you're single cuz, I mean, _Jesus_, am I the only sane guy around here?" he yelled as if he were talking to a crowd, his hands raised. "That's a rhetorical question by the way. Of course I'm insane." He leapt back on top of the counter, crouching like an ape-man.

"Um... sir?" Marie moved backward, her hands raised to try and discourage him from doing anything too crazy.

He ignored her attempts. "Seriously! You're like... _awesome_. I mean, a little too normal if you ask me, but maybe that's a good thing." He dropped behind the counter, closer to Marie than he'd ever been. "And I'll just say it cuz I say everything, not to state the obvious..."

Marie swallowed, hardly able to breathe around her clenched heart, and backed away, her eyes flicking between the dark splotches on his shoulders. The smell of blood was faint on the air, making it hard to breath.

"You're pretty," he stated simply.

Marie swallowed again, her voice quivering. "Sir? You're not... allowed to be back here."

He started, looking around as if he'd just realized where he was. "Oh! Sorry." He leapt back up over the counter in one smooth move, reminding Marie of a cat, and reached into the pocket of his baggy pants. "It's twenty bucks right?"

Marie stood shaking where she was, still unable to look him in the face, "Yes, sir. Do you want your change?"

"Nope." He threw the bill at her and turned toward the doors, "See ya later, Dynamite!" And he was gone.

Marie took a few moments to calm herself down, rationalizing away his behavior, the spots on his jacket, and the smell that came off of him. Then she put the twenty into the register and prepared to close up. No one ever came in after he was gone.


	2. Embarrassing Encounters

Marie scurried over to her Starkian MP3 and cranked up the volume as the short dialogue interrupted the song, then began her chores again. She sprayed the disinfectant over her cupboards and wiped at it lazily, her eyes glazed as the beautiful, lilting voice of Elaine Paige began filtering through the speakers.

Marie began swaying on the spot with her eyes closed and singing along softly, still a little self-conscious even though she was alone. It wasn't a usual thing, her singing like this. But she absolutely loved this song and she wished for a little more spontaneity in her life.

Then as her favorite part of the song came up, Marie filled her lungs and belted out the notes, not caring if she was off tune.

"TOUCH ME!

IT'S SO EASY TO LEAVE ME...

ALL ALONE WITH THE ME-MORY...

_of my days in the sun."_

Marie felt the emotion choke her up a little, but couldn't stop singing...

"_If you touch me..._

_You'll understand what happiness is._

_Look..._

_A new day..._

_Has..._

_Beeee__guuuun..."_

As the music twittered off mystically, Marie took a deep breath and smiled sheepishly at herself. _Silly, _she thought, brushing the shorter strands of her hair back behind her ears.

Someone cleared their throat suddenly.

Marie gasped and twirled around so fast that she slipped on the polished wood floor, her feet squeaking dramatically out from under her. "Ow..." she hissed around her embarrassment, wincing as a bruise started forming along her hip.

None other than Steve Rogers, _the _Captain America, was hurrying across the floor as she pushed herself up to a sitting position.

"I'm really sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean to scare you," he said, offering his hand. He truly did seem sorry, not a hint of scorn or amusement on his face, his eyebrows turned down worriedly.

Marie blushed fiercely and allowed him to pull her back up to her feet, murmuring shyly, "Thank you."

Shuffling her feet awkwardly, not quite able to meet his gaze, Marie waited uncomfortably in front of him for a moment, and then another song began to blurt out around them. "_The greatest magicians have something to learn... from Mr. Mistoffelees' conjuring turn..."_

"Oh, _God!" _Marie exclaimed, running back into the kitchen.

_"And we all say... _

_Oh! _

_Well! _

_A ne-ver was there _

_e-ver..."_

Marie hurriedly grabbed up her iPod and paused the _Cats_ Soundtrack in its tracks before she could get any more humiliated. Then, clearing her throat, she turned to face Captain Rogers, her cheeks rosy.

And Captain Rogers, the perfect picture of innocent bemusement, watched her with his eyebrows raised.

Clearing her throat again, Marie said, "I uh... I'm sorry about all that, I didn't think anyone was... it's so embarrassing..."

The captain still seemed a little befuddled, his mouth pouted out in curiosity and a few little creases between his eyebrows.

Marie winced, "How long... Um... Were you standing there for a long time?"

"Oh uh..." He seemed to finally find something to say. "No. No, not a long time. I uh... I just heard the music and uh... well I'd never heard that song before and thought I'd come ask what it was... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," he finished, sticking his hands into his pockets.

"No, I'm sorry," Marie said, half hiding her face behind a hand. "I never would have... I mean... I totally..." She sighed. "Don't worry about it."

There were a few more uncomfortable moments while both seemed to gather their courage.

"So... you've never seen _Cats _huh?" Marie asked, shaking a little with silent laughter. Then, seeing the lost look on the captain's face and realizing how rude she must've come across, she hurriedly added, "Not that it's something to be embarrassed about, because it's not. It's just that a lot of people _have _seen it and... Ah, I'm sorry, I..." she ducked her head, covering her face as she blushed once more. "I can repeat Chinese after hearing it once but can't string together a normal conversation to save my life," she said ruefully, still unable to meet his eyes.

"Well," Captain Rogers shrugged again. "That makes two of us. The normal conversation bit, anyway. Not the Chinese."

Marie looked up at him, grateful but doubtful.

"So... 'cats'?" he asked, one of his eyebrows raised. "I'm guessing it isn't the animal you're talking about?"

Marie smiled a little, "It's a musical. One of the popular ones during the 80's. I _kinda _have a weakness for it..."

Captain Rogers nodded appraisingly, "I guess I'll have to see it."

Suddenly getting an image of the Star-Spangled Man's face as he watched a technicolored stage teeming with leaping, leotard-wearing, make-up covered men and women, Marie's bubble of laughter escaped so suddenly she startled the captain. "Oh no, I'm sorry... it's just..." she covered her mouth as the laughter overwhelmed her again. Her imagination had no trouble at all picturing Captain Rogers' expression while watching Rum Tum Tugger's _many_ raunchy hip-rolls...

Squishing her lips together in an effort to control her laughter, Helen said, "I think that... you might not be ready to tackle _that _particular musical just yet. There's a few others written by the same guy, Andrew Lloyd Webber, that you might like. Um... maybe not _The Technicolored Dreamcoat. _Or _J.C. __Superstar. _I think _Phantom of the Opera _is a little more you're speed. You seen any of the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows? Cause I think you'd like _Oklahoma! _or even _South Pacific_. Or _The King and I._"

Captain America could only smile as she babbled, politely overwhelmed.

Marie knew how she must sound right now, but it didn't feel as if she were talking over him, just filling the incurable silence.

So she kept on talking, feeling more and more uncontainable with every word. "No! I know! You'd really like _Newsies. _The music is absolutely amazing in that one! I mean, Alan Menken is a genius no matter how much of a rep he got doing the Disney movies... Or maybe _West Side Story! _That one's basically a no-brainer, it's such a classic. And so is _Grease, _though that one is probably a little bit too honest, if you know what I mean. You know, about teenagers. So is _Hairspray_..."

"My friend, you're about five seconds from giving the Cap verbal whiplash," Darcy suddenly appeared in the room. "Been there, done that." She sat behind the kitchen counter, pulling out her phone and tapping away at it, completely distracted.

Marie blushed once again and ducked her head, whispering to the captain, "Sorry!"

"No, no," Captain Rogers shook his head, chuckling in what could only be described as relief. "It was interesting..."

"Yeah, very interesting," Darcy drawled, never looking away from her phone. "Hey, Cap, the Spider Lady is looking for you."

"Natasha? Did she say what it was about?" the captain asked.

Darcy flipped her long dark hair and looked up at the ceiling in sarcastic thought, "Now that I think about it, she wasn't really _looking_ for you, but _I _think she's got her witch's broom shoved up her butt and I elect _you_ to go pull it out again." She went back to her phone.

Captain Rogers seemed a little caught off guard by Darcy's graphic speech, his eyes growing wide, but his chivalry kept his mouth in check. "Guess I'll go see what I can do." He turned to Marie, his mouth completely serious, "It was nice talking to you..." He seemed to be asking a half-question, waiting for her answer with gorgeous, expectant blue eyes.

But for the life of her, Marie couldn't figure out what exactly the question was. She just nodded and hummed in agreement to his statement, her arms folded across her stomach. She smiled uneasily.

"Ma'am." He said with a nod. Then Captain America was walking away. "Darcy." He nodded a greeting to the eccentric assistant on his way out and Darcy waved at him vaguely.

Marie stood watching the wholesome, honey-and-oates, rope-swing and quilted-blanket-under-a-tree embodiment walk down the hall with a strange mixture of wistful queasiness and puppy-dog admiration. It was then that she noticed for the first time what he was wearing; a slightly worn-out baby-blue button-up cotton shirt, rolled halfway up his forearms and the collar folded neatly around his neck, soft-looking jeans, and old-style brown leather shoes. He just looked so... uncomplicated. But complicated he was, Marie knew.

Then as he disappeared, Darcy dropped her phone and folded her arms across the countertop. "Pfft. '_Ma'am.' _He called you 'ma'am'! And what the heck was with the word-vomit?" she said in that annoying-but-cute, low, slightly-nasal voice of hers. "You were starting to sound like _me. _On crack!"

Marie slapped her hands over her face, "I know!" She turned and fell forward across the back of the couch, groaning. Her voice was muffled in the cushions as she continued, "And that's not even half of it! He walked in on me singing along to '_Cats'..._"

"_Really?! 'Cats'?" _Darcy was riffling through the kitchen cupboards. "And in _sweatpants _no less..."

Marie growled into the couch, "I was alone, ok?! I didn't think _he'd_ come walking in!" She groaned again, curling in on herself in humiliation. "First time I meet Captain America..."

"Hey, it's no biggy," Darcy said, plopping down on the couch next to her head and munching on a handful of chips. "On the plus side, I don't have to completely hate your guts now! If you got all the guys _on_ _top _of being the biggest overachiever on the planet, we would _not _be friends. Trust me." She crunched down on another chip.

Marie lifted her head and glared at her, "Is there a reason why you're sitting on my couch eating my food? "

"Well," Darcy wiggled her head back and forth, "I came up here to escape the red-headed drama downstairs, I mean, Spider Lady _kind__a _scares me, but now I'm staying for your brunette drama. Much safer." Darcy shifted around on the couch, her face becoming animated, "So. I was watching the news, right? And suddenly, who do I see? It's Captain America! Boring, right? But _no!_ It's some _other_ dude from New York who looks _freakishly _like Cappy but can turn his _whole body..._wait for it... _on fire! _Like, _all over._" She gestured wildly.

"Fascinating! I've never heard of anything so weird!" Marie said, widening her eyes mockingly, before looking distractedly over at the elevator doors. "What was going on with Natasha?"

Darcy's mouth went slack, "I tell you that Captain America has a _literally_ hot twin and you're worried about some crazy assassin?! What is _wrong _with you?"

Marie put her hands on her hips, "Apart from the obvious? Seriously, is she ok?"

"Look," Darcy lifted her hands in the air, "all I know is that she came flying in a few minutes ago, stole the Starkian laptop, and freakin' _growled_ at me when I _politely_ asked what the heck she was doing."

Marie eyebrows came together worriedly, "That doesn't sound good..."

"Right? That's why I came and got Cap," Darcy closed her lips around another chip. "He's the only one here who can take her... At least... I'm pretty sure he can."


End file.
